The Myall Lakes are adjacent to the east coast, about 250 kilometres (155 mi) north of Sydney.

The Myall River also flows out of The Broadwater and meanders southwest where it empties into Port Stephens between the towns of Tea Gardens and Hawks Nest.

The NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service operate a car ferry across the lake at Bombah Point.

The area between the lakes and the sea is mainly uninhabited coastal woodlands and long isolated beaches although some of it was mined for heavy mineral sands before the 1970s.

To assist in the transport of the logs from the forests to the lake, an extensive light railway system was constructed.